Kevin Haskin: Jayhawks fail to deliver in clutch

Kansas guard Naadir Tharpe can only watch in the closing seconds of Michigan State's upset over No. 7 Kansas.

ATLANTA — Kansas must decide who wants the basketball ... the big shot ... the ballgame.

You figured this could be the case. Between Tyshawn Taylor and Thomas Robinson, there was rarely the need for anyone else to factor into crunch time offensively during last year’s run to the national championship game.

Now that somebody else — old or new — must step forward, the Jayhawks may have to trudge a few steps backward.

The 67-64 loss they suffered Tuesday against Michigan State in the Champions Classic at the Georgia Dome — the court where this season’s Final Four will be contested — offered nothing conclusive.

Remember, it is so early in the basketball season that the KU football team still has two games remaining.

Nonetheless, the Jayhawks manufactured few answers in the clutch. They scored on just two of their last eight possessions, allowed eight unanswered points that gave the Spartans a one-point lead, and could not get the right guy to launch a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Unless Travis Releford is that guy. He took the last shot. And his 3-ball had no chance.

Elijah Johnson, a more logical choice, passed up a decent look.

“I put that all on me. I could have made a better decision,’’ Johnson said. “Coach put the ball in my hands to make a play, and I didn’t do a great job at it. It was really to get a good look and get a good shot up.’’

Every flaw cannot be pinned to that last trip.

KU began to stumble after a stretch of three possessions in which Releford made two free throws, scored on a drive and fed Jeff Withey for a basket.

That hoop came with 5:02 left and gave the Jayhawks a 59-54 edge. They scored just five more points, including one field goal.

Ben McLemore netted that one and even converted it into a three-point play with 48.9 seconds left. Yet the creative freshman attempted just seven shots all night. He made five to finish with 14 points, two short of the team-high provided by Johnson.

“The guy’s a pretty efficient player, but seven shots is just not enough for him,’’ KU coach Bill Self said of McLemore. “He’s so talented and he’s going to learn, but it’s just all new to him.’’

Same for the other KU freshmen, including Perry Ellis.

The Wichitan is talented. Yet he played just six minutes in the second half, largely because he could not yet adjust to the kind of grit and toughness Michigan State enforces. That contributed to more minutes for athletic, but raw, Jamari Traylor.

“Perry’s going to be a good player, but everything is a finesse deal right now,’’ Self said. “It’s not his fault. Michigan State is just not the best team to be finessed against. Going after balls, he’s hesitating instead of playing. He’ll grow through that.’’

So yes, problems existed on both ends. Problems seniors are usually expected to stem.

Yet until Withey plays into the kind of 7-foot force he can be, until Releford defends at the level he can while providing the occasional offensive spark, and until Johnson steps up and drains vital shots, the Jayhawks will be vulnerable against good opponents.

“We tried to protect (a lead) instead of playing. That was probably part of it,’’ Self said, who again used the word, “soft’’ to describe the Jayhawks’ defense late in the shot clock on decisive possessions.

Hey, not everything was lost Tuesday. KU gained a commitment from a 7-footer, Joel Embiid, giving the Jayhawks five signees who will comprise a class ranked as high as second nationally.

As for the here and now, another “teaching tape’’ will soon be viewed by the Jayhawks.

It will even provide Self with positives to point out ... at least until the closing stretch when the Spartans had the players who rose up and put it away.

Someone — be it a senior, a freshman, or preferably a combination of both — must change that dynamic for Kansas.